As many of my twitter followers probably are aware of I’m currently working on getting my hands on a MacBook Pro or just a MacBook. I just can’t make up my mind.

I’ve been a happy Windows-user for many years. Way back when you typed Windows in DOS to start Windows 3.11 for Workgroups.

But I haven’t really gotten over the disappointment of Windows Vista. A year ago I “leased” big HP Notebook with 17″ screen and Windows Vista Home Premium, but it was so dang slow.

When I started my new job a few months ago I had to return the HP Notebook to my previous employee. (It’s tax/employee benefit-thing). I’ve been without a laptop since April 1st. I have a company one, but I’m not using that one for private stuff.

Instead of buying a new Dell XPS something, I decided that I wanted a MacBook Pro. A quick trip to Apple.com/store quickly gave me a price indication – $2,499 for a MacBook Pro. Ok, I can live with that.

How much does it cost in Denmark then? Dkr. 17,299 or $3,460! I can buy a return-trip to New York, buy a MacBook Pro and still save money compared to the Danish price.

Of course, if I get busted in customs, the saving is gone, but I can fly out of Hamburg (Germany) and avoid customs that way.

Why would I want a MacBook? As I mentioned Windows Vista has been quite the disappointment, but another my interview series “Show Me Your Desktop” has had a huge influence on the decision too.

It’s a part of my world domination problogger plan too.

So where am I going with this? Well initially this was meant as an intro to my Apple Mac research post, but the intro has become so long, that I’ll write that in a second post. Therefore this is called “My Quest For The Apple Part 1″.

In Part Deux I’ll write about how strong a brand Apple really is and why people become “switchers”.

In the next two weeks I’ll host the biggest contest ever on The Beta News. Actually it’s the first contest ever here, but who’s counting?!

Now the rules to participate are developed by my twisted brain, so hopefully this will be a contest unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.

The rules are fairly simple.

Option 1: Follow me on Twitter. At a random time I will announce a keyword on Twitter and the followers will have three hours to mail it to me. A random follower will then be drawn.

Option 2: Keyword in RSS-feed. Subscribe to my RSS-feed and mail the keyword to me. Send the “secret” word to contest (at) thebetanews.com.

Option 3: Blog about the contest or The Beta News content. Write a blog post about the contest, or one of the sponsors, or one of The Beta News posts (for instance one of the Show Me Your Desktop interviews) using relevant anchor text like “celebrity blogger interview, problogger interview or blogging advice”. Another example could be my post about why virtual worlds are the next Web 2.0 money maker. Anchor text examples here could be “Web 2.0 and virtual worlds”, ” webkinz and clubpenguin.com is a money maker” or something similar. Basically anchor texts are links that features keywords about the post being linked to. Remember to Stumble your post and if you think it’s really good, submit it to digg, sphinn or other sites.

Remember to post a link in a comment in the contest post. I will Stumble your post as well. I can only encourage you to Stumble other contestants posts too.
Option 4: Take a picture of your blog “HQ” or desktop. Take a picture or a small video of what your blogger HQ, desk or computer desktop looks like. Post it in a blog post and link to this post.

Each part gives you an extra chance to win the big drawing on day 14.

Complete one or more options. Each option gives you an extra chance in the final drawing. All drawings are made by random.org.

And now for the prizes:

• Lorelle VanFossen’s book “Blogging Tips – What bloggers won’t tell you about blogging” sponsored and signed by Lorelle VanFossen. You won’t find better tips and tricks about WordPress and blogging in general anywhere else. Lorelle is the blogging expert. Visit Lorelle on WordPress.
• David Airey from DavidAirey.com and Logo Design Love has kindly taken some time out of his busy schedule and is sponsoring his design expertise. David will give the winner a critique of his/hers blog with suggestions and improvements. David has been my “go-to-guy” on several blog design occasions and he was the first to refer me to Brian Gardner. His latest blog , Logo Design Love, is all about his passion for logos.
• Entrecard.com has kindly sponsored three Entrecard Featured Status – This means you get a golden border around your Entrecard for a week. Great way of getting more attention. On top of that, Entrecard also sponsor three Fast Passes. With a Fast Pass you can jump to the top of an advert request.
• One Amazon.com $100 gift card
• One Amazon.com $30 gift card
• One Amazon.de €20 gift card (to make the Euros happy)
• Two $25 in cash through PayPal
• Three The Beta News t-shirts with logo and everything

If you feel like sponsoring a prize, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

The contest starts now and ends Friday, 22 February 2008.

Good luck everybody!

PS: If you like The Beta News, please go ahead and Favorite it on Technorati.